Broadway's Chicago to Finally Surpass Cats — and the Original Stars Want to Celebrate

On Sunday, November 23, Chicago will celebrate its landmark 7,486th performance, making it officially the second-longest running show in Broadway history. It will surpass Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats and take its place safely behind Webber's other record-breaking musical The Phantom of the Opera.

To celebrate the milestone, four of the original stars of the long-running 1996 revival production will visit the Ambassador Theatre to participate in the festivities. Tony Award winners Ann Reinking (Roxie Hart), Bebe Neuwirth (Velma Kelly), James Naughton (Billy Flynn), and Joel Grey (Amos Hart) will each make cameo appearances at various points throughout the performance.

"What a joy to welcome back all four of the legendary stars who launched this incredibly beautiful production eighteen years ago!" said producer Barry Weissler. "Sometimes, it seems like only yesterday, yet here we are — just a few weeks away from becoming the second longest-running show in Broadway history."

Featuring classic tunes by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart, a nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her crime into a barrage of sensational headlines.

The current revival production opened November 14, 1996, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, earning a total of six Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Naughton), and Best Actress in a Musical (Neuwirth). This October, Chicago will launch
its 16th national touring Broadway production.

The current Broadway cast stars Bianca Marroquin as Roxie Hart, Amra-Faye Wright as Velma Kelly, Christopher Fitzgerald as Billy Flynn, and Paul Vogt as Amos Hart.

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